Interview Tips

At Ardent our interviews are mainly focused on the skills and personal qualities you need, so you don’t need to worry about any odd or abstract questions designed to catch you out. We want to see how you can relate your past skills and experience to the job. We also check the basics with online testing which will depend on the vacancy you are applying for. These are normally done prior to interviews however, engineer’s and yardperson’s testing will be done on site on the day of interview.

We use competency based interview questions to assess your suitability for the role. In reality what this means, is that we ask you questions which allow you to tell us about what you have done in the past.

Please see below some examples of competency based questions to help you prepare for this style of interview.

• Tell me about a particularly effective team you have worked in
• Tell me about a situation where you went above and beyond for a customer or colleague to help build a working relationship
• Give me an example of when you had to persuade someone to your point of view
• When was the last time you felt particularly passionate about your work?
• How do you determine your main priorities?

For all of these questions, we are looking to hear about all the great things you have done in previously roles, even if the role is different to the one you are being interviewed for, the way you handled a certain situation is the most important part, not what the situation was.

Like everything, practice makes perfect. Our tips for preparing for an interview are below.

Before the interview

To help you prepare, you can:

• Think about why you want the job, what your strengths and weaknesses are, and your relevant work and life experience
• Think about areas of your CV that we might ask you to talk more about, and how you can relate these areas to the role you’ve applied for
• Find out as much about us as you can so that we see you are serious about working for us
• Think of anything you’d like to ask us at the end of the interview
• Try to relax the night before. Doing lots of last minute work could make you more anxious and reduce your sleep time
• Make sure you know where you’re going and how long it takes to get there. Make sure you leave plenty of time so you can arrive a little early to gather yourself.

During the interview

When answering the questions:

• Look alert and attentive, speak clearly and confidently, and do not swear or use slang
• Give full answers, don’t just say ‘yes’ or ‘no’
• Make sure you fully understand the questions you are asked - ask for more explanation if you need to
• Take your time when thinking of your answer – it is fine to say you need a moment to think
• Give examples of when you have used the skills we are asking for. If you are asked about a work skill you don’t have, you could say what you would do in a certain situation or use an example from your personal life
• The STAR technique is a great way of focusing your answers. Talk about the Situation you were in, the Task in front of you, the Action you took, and the Result of your action
• Be positive about your experiences - avoid negativity about yourself or any previous roles
• Avoid talking about salary or company benefits - we’ll get to that if you are successful
• Always be honest with your applications as this will give you confidence in your interview in the knowledge that you have been selected on your merit and not a false interpretation that will probably be found out anyway and could cost you the job.

After the interview

When the employer contacts you after the interview:

• If you are offered the job, we will provide all of the information required so that you can join our team smoothly.
• Ask for feedback on your performance - if you are not successful use our comments to reflect and improve for next time
• If you are not successful but did interview well, you can ask us to keep your CV on file for 6 months if any other positions arise